Wonder is a story of strength, courage and bravery, of overcoming obstacles and not letting your fears stand in your way. It reminds us not to judge people based on how they look. Wonder is a story every child should read. My eight year old is one of my reluctant...
Book review – Baby X, by Rebecca Ann Smith
Baby X is a clever debut by Rebecca Ann Smith that asks so many questions about the ethics of modern science as it delves into the world of IVF. Dr Alex Mansfield, a pioneer in the world of reproductive research, known as IVG, has gestated a fetus in an artificial...
The dreaded editing process
Writing a story is the fun part. If I have a story idea, it burns a hole in my head until I can get it out. Fingers connect to keyboard and the circuit is complete to let those words flow through. Then I get to the end and congratulate myself on a job well done....
Writing a middle grade manuscript
I have exciting news from Nikki Young Writes and I've been bursting to share it. My first book is going to be published soon! Many of you who follow this blog will know I spent a lot of last year working on my young adult manuscript. I finished a second draft and...
Interview with children’s author, Karen Inglis
I love meeting other authors. For me, it's very inspiring and gives me hope that I will one day be in a similar position. It's incredibly hard work though and takes a lot of dedication, as my guest today will tell you. Karen Inglis is a children’s author living in...
Manuscript planning
This is my work station at the moment. When I get time to work on my fiction writing, that is. It's been too lovely to sit at a desk staring at the wall. I'd much rather be in the kitchen, looking out over the garden, lush and green as it is at the moment. I'm...
My middle grade manuscript
I’ve been quiet on the blogging front recently. Sometimes, I feel as though I could quite easily spend all my time blogging and never get anything else done. I have to pull myself away from it every now in then so I can concentrate on other projects. That means I’ve...
Friday Fiction – Slumber
Welcome to Friday Fiction, my weekly fiction post. It's the first Friday of the month (already), so that means it's link up time too. Please see the blue frog link below and follow the instructions if you would like to add your own fiction piece or book review. I look...
Friday Fiction Monthly Link Up
Regular followers of my blog will know that I publish a Friday Fiction post every week. Except that is, on the odd occasion when I'm not feeling inspired enough or I've been taking a break. This is one of those weeks, but I'm here anyway to remind you that NEXT WEEK...
New School Term, New Start – taking a look back over the summer
When the children go back to school, it feels like the start of a new year. It's the beginning of a new phase and a great time to get back on track with anything that you've gotten out of the habit of doing over the summer months. For me, that means working on my...
Friday Fiction – NaNoWriMo Preparation
Welcome to Friday Fiction. As it's the first Friday of the month, I open my doors to invite other bloggers to join me. This is the place to link up your fiction posts and book reviews and join the discussion. All you have to do is click on the blue frog at the end of...
Friday Fiction Link Up
If you write fiction pieces, tinker with prose or poetry and/or write book reviews, I invite you to share them with me on the first Friday of every month. Feel free to pop along this Friday and link up your work, to share it with others, whilst possibly finding some...
The Pull of the Sea – Friday Fiction
As he stepped out of his house and took a left, then left again, Jake could hear the seagulls above him, stirring up a storm with their rhythmic squawking. ‘Not-that-way,’ they seemed to chime. ‘Stay-near-sea.’ Jake understood. He had lived by the sea all his life and...
Friday Fiction – Evaluation
Welcome to Friday Fiction and it's linky week too! Click on the blue frog below to link up your fiction and review posts and don't forget to comment on other posts too. My post this week is a fiction piece from my Nano novel, pieces of which I have posted before,...
‘The End’ – When Do You Really Stop Drafting?
'The End' Those two words can mean so much, especially to me this week. I finished the draft of my manuscript re-write. I wrote the end of my story. Except I never actually wrote those two words because I know that it's far from at that point. It felt good though....
How do you keep up your writing mojo?
If there’s one thing that throws me off with my writing, it’s a break in the routine. A week off for the school holidays is fine, but if I leave it any longer than that, it's much harder to get back in to. That’s what happened this week. Half term came and went, then...
Friday Fiction – How Do You Measure Author Success?
Friday Fiction is here and as it's the first Friday of the month it's link up time! Join me by linking up and sharing your own fiction works and book reviews. Have a read of what others are sharing and don't forget to leave a comment to let them know. All you need to...
Friday Fiction – Fear
Welcome to Friday Fiction. Can I just remind you that NEXT WEEK (5th June) is link up week. That means that if you have any fiction pieces or book review posts that you want to share with others, pop along and feel free to link up. It would be great to see you there....
Friday Fiction
My Friday Fiction extract this week comes from a manuscript that waits patiently in the background for me to edit it. In the meantime, I often find myself delving in to it looking for interesting passages to share for this weekly post. I chose this piece as it fits...
Developing Your Writing – From Story Ideas to Full Blown Novels
I regularly blog about how to find writing inspiration: from music, images and paintings, stories, inanimate objects and even Literary Agent’s wish lists, inspiration is everywhere. Sit in a café or on a park bench for half an hour and you’re likely to spot an...